Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year my readers! When reflecting on what to write for my 2012 New Year's resolution post I started to wonder what advice I would have given myself four years ago when I weighed over 268lbs (last known weigh-in, likely more). So I wrote myself a letter. This was very helpful to me so I wanted to share it with all of you! As usual, with any advice I give (even to myself! :-))--take what you like and leave the rest.

Dear Me in 2007,

2007 Me

I know your body is hurting right now and you can't make it up a flight of stairs without becoming short of breath. I know you eat chips & dip while hiding in your closet and sweets when you think no one is looking. I know that the take-out wait staff in all the local restaurants know your name and what meal you want to order. And I know you go home alone to eat enough food for five people while sitting in front of the TV. I know you try to hide your secrets from your friends and family because you don't think anyone will like you if you are honest about who you are and what "bad" things you do. I know that you dream about going to sleep in this body and then waking up thin like an overnight miracle from God.

But more than anything, I know that you hate yourself for weighing 268+ lbs. I know you are sitting in your house today, New Years Eve, plotting your strategy to lose weight in the New Year. As a side note, I also know that you went to your favorite restaurant today and got all your best binge foods to have a "last supper" of sorts before the clock strikes midnight and your new diet begins!

I want to tell you that someday you will be able to laugh with friends who share your disease about the crazy things you did for and with food. Someday you will even have a body that doesn't hurt every time you stand up and a large size set of women's surgical scrubs instead of a XXX size from the men's section of the locker room. Someday you will be able to be comfortable enough with your slender body to fall in love and marry a wonderful man. Someday you will be proud to be a doctor who is living the advice you give your patients. Someday you will actually like who you are--inside & out.

But that someday is not today. Today I'm going to challenge you to forget your usual resolutions with weight loss deadlines & detailed plans of how to get there. All I'm going to ask you to do is to do five things.

1) Throw away your scale and the negative self-talk that goes with it.

Every year you start to lose weight and then one day you get on the scale and discover that you've gained a pound instead of lost one. You shake this off but berate yourself for being "bad" that week and vow to be "good" from here on. And then things get stressful at work, you don't have time to cook and you skip the daily intensive workouts. Then next month you get on the scale and discover that half of the weight you lost in January is back, or worse, you are actually heavier than you were when the year started! So you give up and go get a "treat" to feel better. You look in the mirror and are disgusted with your laziness and your inability to have enough will power to change.

Lets do something different this year. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. So why don't you be a bit gentler with yourself and eliminate the opportunity for self-critique based on numbers on a scale.

Guess what, you don't need a scale to tell you if you are gaining or losing weight. You can feel what your body is doing--are your clothes getting tighter or looser? Are you eating nutrient dense foods or junk? Do you feel more energetic or extremely tired? Let these questions be your scale. Weigh yourself every 3-6 months if you have to and tell your friends about your progress in clothing sizes. Someday you will be able to say you went from a 26 to a 14.

2) Write down your food plan each night & cook ahead on the weekends.

You know this works. So do it. It doesn't have to be elaborate. Keep it simple. Buy a slow cooker.

3) Start eating more and more vegetables & grains until 100% of your diet is plants

You know that dying young is not your greatest fear. Your greatest fear is becoming disabled and having your family have to care for you. You know that most people who eat poorly or are obese don't die suddenly--they waste away, losing their independence slowly and painfully from strokes, congestive heart failure, pulmonary edema, GI bleeds, some cancers, depression and severe osteoarthritis. Don't take chances and put food-based pleasure above preserving your independent lifestyle. I know you don't like to change but you'll find that you actually really like vegan food when its done right. And you will learn to do it right. In fact, you won't even miss meat except at special occasions when its right in front of you. But when that happens, you will look at your family over the dinner table, picture them having to take care of you as you age and that meat won't seem so important any more. You will know that you made the right choice.

4) Give up sodas of all kinds, including diet soda

I know you love your diet sodas--especially your Fresca and your Diet Coke. You gave up regular sodas and other non-water beverages years ago to lose weight and haven't picked it up since then but you think that diet soda is ok! You may not have read this scientific literature but actually your soda is actively leeching calcium from your bones & changing the biochemical balance in your body to make you gain weight instead of losing it! So give them ALL up.

5) Most importantly, find a free support group like a 12 step compulsive eating recovery program or form one of your own if the program is not for you

I know you think you have this all figured out. And I know you think that weight loss is just about the food & exercise. Its not. Its about a lot more than that. You will discover that it has to do with your emotions and your spiritual center as well. And to feel comfortable being honest about your overeating behavior, you need some supportive friends who share your struggles. You need to hear encouragement from living, breathing success stories sitting in front of you. You need to hear how someone hasn't eaten sugar in 20 years or that that cute guy over there lost 175lbs and you can't even recognize him from before even though you knew him. You need to know the hard stuff too, that someone else hid in their closet to eat, snuck food from the refrigerator at night or ate until they felt sick but couldn't seem to stop.

You also need to know that some people's disease is mild compared to yours--they just were tired of failing diets or couldn't manage to eat the food portions they wanted. You need to know that some people's disease is worse than yours--they eat out of the trash, have been hospitalized multiple times or can't make themselves eat enough to stay a healthy weight. You need to know that no matter what problems people have with their food, they are all accepted and acceptable. You need to see others having the courage to be honest and to ask you to be too.

You are not alone. There is hope for you yet Cat if you are willing to recover.

You can believe me. I'm you, nearly 100lbs lighter, in four years.

Love, Me

The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. The Happy Rehab Doc expressly disclaims responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site. By visiting this site you agree to the foregoing terms and conditions.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Ok! Well its been a crazy week (another family member in the hospital--now discharged thank goodness!) and no time to mass cook! For most of the week, I've been coming home and chopping a few things here and there and throwing it in the slow cooker (the 3-in-1 slow cooker of course!)!! At least I did our meal planning and we got the grocery shopping done before the week began so I have everything on hand!!

What we've made food-wise this week has been SUPER yummy so far! My husband, the Happy Nurse, got a cookbook for Christmas called "Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz." Therefore, this cookbook features prominently in our plan for this week! So far, the curries I've made from this cookbook have been really good!!

Here is what the Happy Nurse & I are eating this week:

Soups & Curries 1) Aztec Corn Soup from The Happy Herbivore Cookbook by Lindsay Nixon: As if we couldn't get enough of this delicious soup with a Mexican kick, we're making more for this week!! Its an incredibly healthy soup thanks to the ingenious use of quinoa as a main ingredient! Great balanced protein source & gives it a nutty taste--yum!2) Eggplant-Chickpea Curry: Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz: I haven't tasted this yet but it smelled really good cooking! Instead of the Chickpeas, I accidently thawed the Canelloni beans we had cooked & frozen so I used those! Instead of fresh tomatoes which are out of season, I used "Fire-Roasted"diced canned tomatoes. Delicious!)

3) 2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma: Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz:took this for lunch today--the sauce is SO good! I forgot to buy cauliflower so I used broccoli instead & I threw in some parsnips as well since we had some! I used the Healthy Librarian's trick substitution for coconut milk (since it is so high in saturated fat!)--I added a teaspoon of coconut extract to oat milk instead! At let me tell you, I cannot taste a difference--yay Debby!4) Red Lentil & Root Veggie Dal: Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz: haven't made this yet but I've got all the ingredients! For all of these curries we got the garam masala, etc spices from our local Indian foods shop. We get all the regular spices and our dried beans/grains from our local health food shop where we can buy in bulk from bins! Super super cheap!

Main Dishes1) Healthy Girl's Kitchen's Sri Lankan Kale: I've been wanting to make this for WEEKS, I just have been a bit stuck because we haven't had time to run across town to the only store that has unsweetened coconut! I keep putting it on the list, but this week it is for real!

1) My New Roots Blog's Winter Slaw: Ok I cannot even explain how unbelievably delicious this is! And SO nutrient dense!!! Kale, carrots, cabbage (2 types), parsley, scallions--YUM! And the dressing is amazing--a total home run all around! 2) Healthy Girl's Kitchen's "Links for Latkas": So I had no time during the holiday week to make latkas and I really really like them! So this week I saw a pound of potatoes on sale and I thought--why not?! Wendy (the Healthy Girl herself:-)) has put together an excellent collection of healthy latka recipes--I plan to try a few of the recipes she has listed and compare them! Great project for New Year's treats this weekend! (if I have time--if not, it'll be one recipe!):-)3) Pineapple Collards: Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz: we have a lot of collard greens leftover from Christmas dinner! I of course over-cooked! I know we'll get bored of these mid-week so I think adding pineapple is an inspired idea! I'll let you know how it turns out!4) Curried Cabbage & Peas:Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz I just realized how many curries I chose for this week!! Guess I'm a mite bit excited about something on the spicy side when its SO cold outside!!5) Brussels-Sprout-Potato Hash:Appetite for Reduction" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz My husband is NOT excited about this one, but I LOVE brussels sprouts! I had some pretty amazing brussels sprouts for Christmas dinner (my sister made them--so delicious!) so I'm yearning for more! I'm still on the search for some fresh ones--my grocery store was out--so this may get pushed back to next week's list!!

Alright! What are YOU planning on eating this week? Got any recipe ideas for me & the Happy Nurse to make for next week???!

Coming Up:

SuperImmunity for Kids ~Part 2~!

A Truly Healthy New Year: From Weight Loss to Sleep, A Few Suggestions for 2012

Treating Pain with Food--more thoughts

The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. The Happy Rehab Doc expressly disclaims responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site. By visiting this site you agree to the foregoing terms and conditions.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Today we are concluding the series on How To Get The BEST Medical Care In The Hospital: Insider Tips! As always, this post is written to "you" but it can be equally applied to any family member or loved one.

Tip#10: Try Not to Be Alone!

The best piece of advice that I can give you is if you are sick enough to stay more than one night at the hospital, try to never be alone for long periods of time. Try to have family members, friends, etc with you as close to around the clock as possible. Don't have them come visit in a big group--that is a waste because their visits are more helpful if they spread out and give you coverage for longer periods of time. Have them visit in small trickles throughout the day (and night for that matter).

One way to spread a stream of visitors out is to explain the importance of shifts to everyone, have a point person volunteer and actually set up an email list or formal schedule for people. This is what my own family did when my family member was in the hospital last month (the event that inspired me to write this series!) Unfortunately we as a family have had many hospitalizations & over time, creating a visitor scheduling system has become routine.

By making a formal schedule, it allowed my family member not to be alone & allowed each of us family members to manage our personal lives & keep working. Important caveat--the family should actively encourage your primary caretaker (husband, daughter/son, parent) to try to minimize the time they need to spend at the hospital. While you are in the hospital, it is an important opportunity to give your spouse or child or parent a good rest before you come home & they will be responsible for your care. So ask for help from your church, synagogue, mosque, spiritual center, social club or network of friends instead. Try to arrange to have someone looking in on you about every 2-3 hours.

I recommend that you keep a notebook in the room that all the visitors should use to write down important things--like what doctors come into the room, any procedures that you get taken to, or anything nursing says that would be important to pass on to the next visitor (i.e.--nurse: we need to keep an eye on her constipation. You write down: f/u constipation. Then the next person looks at the notes and sees they should remind you to ask the nurse about the plan for reducing your constipation). My father has frequently been very ill--I have a large family & we practice this technique when he is in the hospital since we literally take turns sitting bedside & the notebook allows us to share what the doctor said on the first person's visiting shift so the last person's visiting shift knows what is going on!

The notebook should have all important info clipped to it inside the front cover--like who your doctors are AND your Medical Info Sheet that we discussed here in Tip #4!

If you have a large enough family or friends and you feel comfortable asking, I encourage you to see if its possible to have one of them take turns spending the night.

If you can't get anyone, and you are pretty sick than hiring a private-duty aide to sit with you during the night is worth the investment if you can afford it.

If you are a family member caring for an elderly patient susceptible to dementia or confusion than I can't encourage you strongly enough to hire someone if you possibly can!! That aide however is not paid to watch TV--they are paid to let you sleep quietly, check on how you are doing, re-orient you to reality calmly and GENTLY if you are confused & be the family's eyes and ears. Sometimes it is not possible to have someone stay over but I would lobby hard (AND BE VERY VERY NICE when asking) if it isn't usual hospital policy.

Remind everyone that you need to rest and your visitor point-person should emphasize this as well. A hospital is for healing, not a party. Please be respectful of other patient's needs as well. The point person should suggest that people bring a book or magazine to read, a laptop, a musical device with headphones, etc so you don't need to talk for most of the visit. While they are in your room they shouldn't be talking on their cell phone or making a lot of noise. Their purpose is to give you the gift of their time to help staff caring for you be able to perform to the best of their abilities.

***KEY: Do not allow visitors to interrupt the hospital routine. When the nurse comes in to give you your meds, change your wound dressing, give you an enema or any other indelicate thing that your really don't want your family or friends to see, do NOT tell the nurse to "come back later." You have to be a teammate remember--keep them on schedule & it will be to YOUR benefit-- you'd be surprised how many things about your care get missed as they are passed on to the next nursing shift if the nurse wasn't able to execute your care on schedule!***

See here for questions that your visitors should remind you to ask staff EVERY DAY & things to bring to staff attention. Always remind who ever comes that it is critical they behave politely and respectfully towards staff members (see my post Tip #8). To behave otherwise WILL reflect on you and affect your care. Remind your visitors that the staff is very busy and has other patients in addition to you. If the visitor can safely & comfortably do a task for you--i.e. get you a washcloth and help you wash your face, pass you your urinal & dispose of the results, etc--than they will endear themselves to the staff to no end!

That said however, don't let staff disappear on you just because you have someone in your room (it happens sometimes, especially if you are a family member & a healthcare person like me or my husband). If you have waited a reasonable amount of time for a nurse/tech to respond (15 mins or so) and no one has come, then send your visitor to the main desk to ask for assistance. (Visitor Tip: just standing at the nurses station can be quite a motivator for the administrative assistant or other nurses--wait there in full view until someone comes to assist your loved one..) In fact, I recommend sending your visitor to the desk for help first instead of you buzzing your call light, but either method is ok.

Ok! This concludes this Tip AND this series!! I hope that this series will help you and your loved ones get outstanding care & make you feel empowered with understanding about how hospitals work.

It has been a pleasure to share this information with you--please update me in the comments if you have used these techniques & let me know whether they work for you & your family!!

The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. The Happy Rehab Doc expressly disclaims responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site. By visiting this site you agree to the foregoing terms and conditions.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

What a wonderful week of stories of service and gratitude. It really warmed my heart to hear my colleagues share happily about patients and to hear patients share with joy about their physicians. And I'm such a sap--I cried with every story!!!

I hope that you all enjoyed the stories! I REALLY appreciate all the time my physician colleagues and my patient readers put into writing these stories!! All of you are busy & had your own responsibilities, but you still paused to be of service to others by sharing your story.

Ok so I'm a bit nervous about this post because I really don't have a super amount of confidence in my own vegan cooking skills & I've never written a recipe before but....I'm going to take a courageous leap!! I won't do this often (remember, I'm a doctor NOT a chef!) but here is my recipe for my very own Potato-Leek Soup :-) (a version of Ann Esselstyn's Potato Soup from Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease):

Potato-Leek Soup (reminds me of the potato leek soup made by my Mom when I was little! It tastes like POTATOES and NOT cream!)

Makes 4-6 servings

i

1 pound potatoes--Yukon Gold and Red Russet are best

1 Leek

1 cup Oat Milk

1/4-1 cup water

1-2 Tbl dry Dill

salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash the potatoes and leave the skins on. Chop them up and put them in a big pot. Fill the pot with water up until the potatoes are just floating off the bottom of the pot. Boil the potatoes until the potatoes can be easily mashed in with a fork--usually about 20 mins.

2. While the potatoes are boiling, cut the bottom off the leek and thoroughly wash all the leek fronds. Chop each frond into approximately ¼-1/2 inch pieces.

3. Place the fronds in a frying pan and sauté in about 3 Tbl water (or vegetable broth) until the pieces are soft and brown-tinged. Add more water (or vegetable broth) as needed to maintain the sauté.

4. Once the potatoes are done, drain off the water

5. Put the cooked potatoes, the sauteed leeks (including the leeks’ sautéing water/broth) and 1/4 cup of water in a food processor and puree. While pureeing add the cup of Oat milk, 1Tbl Dill and the salt & pepper. If the soup is too chunky for your taste, thin it with more water. Feel free to use more oat milk to increase creaminess or more dill (I use a LOT more dill because I LOVE dill)!

6. Either transfer the now pureed soup back into a pot to heat up OR if it is still warm enough--serve directly from the food processor!

Ok! Hope it turns out yummy for you too! My husband loves it so its a winner in my book :-)

Merry Christmas Eve to all those that celebrate it!

Coming Up After the Holidays:

SuperImmunity for Kids ~Part 2~!

A Truly Healthy New Year

Medical System Tuesday: Tip #10 For The Best Hospital Care: Try Not to Be Alone! ~ Insider Tips on How to Get the BEST Medical Care in the Hospital ~

Sleep, Why it is Critical to Our Health!

Treating Pain with Food--more thoughts

The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. The Happy Rehab Doc expressly disclaims responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site. By visiting this site you agree to the foregoing terms and conditions.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Welcome All My Guest Bloggers--Doctors, Nurses & Patients whose stories warm our hearts....Here is Another Story From a Doctor!

In the hustle of day-to-day operations, I have found it easy to forget why I became a doctor. It becomes more a routine and that’s not what I set out to do.

I work in a clinic that serves a large rural area and the goal is: go, go, go... see as many patients as fast as you can. One patient needed a little more of my time. She had been to several docs before with the same problem and each time dismissed with the same diagnosis. I sat with her asking questions and explaining to her what I was thinking.

Turns out she was sicker than either of us initially thought and I sent her to the hospital for more workup. She returned several weeks later wearing oxygen. She then reached and hugged me and said, “You saved my life.” It reminded me that the little things I do on an average day at work makes a big difference to that person.

Dr. S

Physician

Little Rock, AK

Thank you Dr. S for sharing your story with us!! Readers, lets send a little love to our doc who is willing to work in a rural area to give much needed service! Comment away! :-))

About Me

I'm a Rehab MD (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation): I treat patients recovering from a large spectrum of disease or injury ranging from stroke to chronic pain. I love being a doctor!
Over the past four years I've tackled my own health issues--obesity and chronic pain--by changing my lifestyle one day at a time. Nearly 100lbs lost later, I know how hard it is to surrender and make a change in what we eat because I HAVE DONE IT MYSELF! I believe we all deserve to live happy, energetic lives well beyond our 90's. I also believe that dream is 100% possible if we change the way we eat and how we live.

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Medical Disclaimer

The medical information on this site is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information is not intended to be patient education, does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. Please consult your health care provider before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition. The Happy Rehab Doc expressly disclaims responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this site. By visiting this site you agree to the foregoing terms and conditions.